Bleeding a fish WITHOUT opening up its whole throat
Submitted by Notorious on Sun, 2013-10-27 23:05
One can still bleed a fish well without having to cut/disconnect its whole throat from its body. Fish with big gaping gaps where their throat used to be dont present well in photos I think.
Just run a knife under the gills and you will slice its main arteries and ensure it adequately bleeds out and still have an intact fish for a nice photo :)
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sammy85
Posts: 831
Date Joined: 31/08/10
100% agreed
100% agreed
Plumber and gas fitter- 0415489103
fisharoo
Posts: 297
Date Joined: 02/07/11
Photos I reckon are only
Photos I reckon are only spectacular when it first comes out of the water. After that the quality of the fish is all I care about. I have a bucket where I cut its throat and bleed it head down, then after a few minutes a quick wash and goes into the ice esky. Not like some other fisho here:), I find it quite difficult to bag out on decent fish. So I really look after it when I do get one.
Cheers
tim-o
Posts: 4657
Date Joined: 24/05/11
Yep I do the same, brain
Yep I do the same, brain spike then cut the artery but avoid cutting the throat, I read somewhere that this reduces the risk if contamination from stomach bacteria?????
I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.
Rob H
Posts: 5817
Date Joined: 18/01/12
really only a factor if your
really only a factor if your fish is going to be on ice for a few days, as on a wetliner
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
crezz
Posts: 695
Date Joined: 12/03/12
agree fisharoo,
this is particularly noticeable with dollys and trout.
FISH-ON
Posts: 469
Date Joined: 19/07/11
yeh+1 with fisharoo take a
yeh
+1 with fisharoo take a pic when just caught
Be patient and calm - for no one can catch fish in anger
WSHN4FSHN
Posts: 224
Date Joined: 19/09/12
You can catch a really great
You can catch a really great fish (or any fish for that matter) and ruin it by not caring for it properly after catching it. I'm amazed with the amount of people who don't even bleed fish!! I bleed everything and then just like Fisharoo says straight into an ice slurry once bled out. The difference when eating is remarkable. I agree with the cut-throats for photos it's not very photogenic and detracts from a great catch!!
Burley it and they will come.
Cruise Control
Posts: 973
Date Joined: 03/11/10
I have actually tried
I have actually tried slipping the knife under the gills and severing the arteries without cutting the throat latch. I did this specifically on a couple of nice fish so that the photo would not be spoiled. Unfortunately I must have been rather poor in the execution as despite being bled and iced down there was still considerable blood when the fish were filleted down.
Is there a particular area that you are supposed to target with the knife ? I cut high on the gill and through where I assumed the arteries were. Is there a specific area to target to ensure that you hit the major blood supply ? Not much use catching and killing if you dont enjoy the fish on the table.
cheers
daze out
Posts: 75
Date Joined: 07/09/11
all the way to the top
I slide the knife in about halfway up the gill plate, Then cut behind the gills all the way to the top. The main dorsal artery is up high, up under the spine, so make sure you cut as high as possible (keep the knife clear of the gills, if it gets caught in the gills it won't cut all the way). This is the oxygenated blood so it will let the heart pump out the blood, not flood the flesh with blood.
a quick google search came up with this.
http://kapitifishing.co.nz/bleed-fish-circulatory-system/#bleed
I'd be interested if everyone else agrees with this?
Personally it makes sense to me that you cut the artery coming out of the heart to get rid of the blood and keep it pumping all of the blood out, if you cut both ingoing and outgoing then the blood can't get out of the fish.
I think of it like your car's coolant pump (heart), if you take the inlet out you still have residual coolant in your engine, if you remove the outlet, the pump will keep pumping coolant out until it is empty.
reece
Posts: 522
Date Joined: 10/07/08
You only have to cut the top
You only have to cut the top half on each side! Il try get a few pics today
Any one free to help me pull my drum lines tomorrow?
tailor marc
Posts: 2979
Date Joined: 27/09/06
Do what i do , content aware
Do what i do , content aware on photoshop cs5 and cs6 closes the slice up :) I can even clean up the blood.
I also find that brain spiking it also bleeds it. Wipe blood off and get a snap :)
My photography pictures... http://westernhorizonsmedia.wordpress.com/
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Bleed?
Have found over many years of pro and rec fishing that bleeding a fish if its spiked properly doesn't make an ounce of difference. All it does is make a mess in the boat.
Feral
Posts: 1508
Date Joined: 01/11/06
Yep .. but most ppl cant
Yep .. but most ppl cant spike properly .. if done right all the bloody pools in the liver leaving a whole fish and minumal blood
crasny1
Posts: 7006
Date Joined: 16/10/08
+1 Carnarvonite
But Oily fish like Macs and Tuna bleed, if you want to sashimi the fish (any) bleed. White flesh fish a spike to kill without bleeding IMO makes no difference to taste, and with some I even think they taste better without bleeding, for example coral trout. I personally Iki before bleeding all fish. The aim of Iki is to keep the flesh relaxed and not "spasmed up".
I dont use a true spike anymore but a sharpened standard screwdriver. Smak between the eyes and even if it misses the brain it always severs the spinal cord and leaves the fish flaccid.
But this is my taste and opinion.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
choc
Posts: 670
Date Joined: 05/01/12
Whats more important,
Whats more important, bleeding the fish you are going to eat properly or looking good in a photo?
Bleed the fish you are going to keep by cutting its throat and take pics of the fish you are going to release.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Pics
Take your pics while its still alive because once you spike it the colours are going to change instantly in most cases.
rocklobster
Posts: 363
Date Joined: 27/12/09
Depends if you're after a
Depends if you're after a quality feed or self gratification from people on a public forum. If after a quality feed, slit the throat and watch the blood flow, otherwise keep it pretty for your audience
Jim
Posts: 1342
Date Joined: 05/05/06
A mate used to be in a
A mate used to be in a fishing club that wouldnt weigh in fish with their throats cut all the way. Easy to do when you know how.
Bend over
barneyboy
Posts: 1392
Date Joined: 08/01/09
lay the fish left side up!!
and cut either the 2nd or 3rd gill raker through. It has a main vein going through it and bleeds em out nicely.
FEEEISH ONNN!!!